There seems to be an awful lot of press lately about gaming addictions and how it affects those around the addicted. Most of it is told from the view of the spouse or partner of the gamer, and thus, it's negative. Like anything else in this world, moderation and common sense have to be applied. Sadly, most of the world is not known for its restraint. We like our vices and we like them in excess. But even water, as we all learned, , vitaly important to all living beings, will kill you if you ingest too much. The problem becomes one of self policing. Afterall, I am not talking about kids here, but grown men and women who seem to embrace a different reality than their own existance. The gaming becomes an all encompassing world where one can be anyone and live out fantasies of battle, love and glory. Is this healthy? Well I think we can all agree that there are worse things that people can do. The harm is when other people are affected by the gamers seeming detachment from their reality that the problems begin. Is gaming addiction becoming a plague? I doubt it. Over the years I have found that the media tends to report uncommon things and make them sound common. In just the past week I read three widely different articles on the evils of excessive gaming that all centered around the same guy who spends 18 hours a day ignoring his wife while he plays "Second Life." Hardly an epidemic. My point is that the unhappy will find something to fill a percieved void in their life. If gaming didn't exist, the man would probably go fishing. The bottom line? Personally, I have learned that sometimes it's best to just lay the controller down. After playing for some time, I may come across a tough mission that bears repeating lots and lots of times to get it right. I used to be the guy who would go at it until the wee hours of the morning 'til I got it right. Over the years it became obvious that the later it got, the worse I would play. 'Course, that still doesn't stop me from playing 10 hours straight on a Sunday when the weather is too nasty for fishing. Happy (moderate) gaming!